Abbotsbury

Situated amongst the hills behind the Jurassic Coastline’s Chesil Beach, Abbotsbury is a historic and unique village in South West Dorset, not far from Bridport and Dorchester.

Nestled in the hills behind the Jurassic Coastline and Chesil Beach, Abbotsbury is the perfectly quintessential English village, steeped in history and extremely pretty. This little village has it all, a lovely rural setting amongst green rolling hills but just steps away from the beach.

An amble through the village will take you past rows of old stone cottages, dating back to the 16th century, beautiful thatched chocolate box dwellings, and a lovely family friendly pub with excellent food and real ales where the locals often get together to play skittles of an evening. Pop and have a cup of tea and a slice of Dorset apple cake in one of the village’s tearooms and then stroll down to the beach.

If you fancy picking up some Dorset Longhorn beef to cook when you get back to your holiday cottage, head to the fantastic Bride Valley Farm Shop on Market Street and peruse their superb selection of top quality meats, eggs, cheese and chutney.

Abbotsbury is most well-known for the Abbotsbury Swannery, Abbotsbury Sub-Tropical Gardens and Abbotsbury Children’s Farm. Abbotsbury Swannery is said by the manager to be a ‘five star hotel for swans’ where ‘they’re not penned in. They really want to stay’. Walking through the colony of nesting Mute swans is something to behold and you will not find a place like this anywhere else in the country.

Abbotsbury Children’s Farm in the ancient Great Barn is a must for an afternoon out. Children can milk Molly the Magic Cow and then holler and cheer as the sheep race along a 200m course. Other attractions include alpacas, goats, mini-donkeys, chinchillas, gerbils and hamsters.

There are more animals still at the Abbotsbury Sub-Tropical Gardens; real and sculpted. Be transported to the tropics with the Burmese rope-bridge, luscious palms and sounds of the caged Australian kookaburras. The gardens have their own micro-climate where sub-tropical plants luxuriate and are just beautiful to walk amongst.

From the Abbotsbury Sub-Tropical Gardens, you can walk to the famous Chesil Beach; 17 miles of unbroken shingle. Pirates would land on Chesil Beach in the dead of night and know their position because of the size of the stones. The bigger the pebbles, the closer they were to Portland. Head to the Moonfleet Manor Restaurant and while away the afternoon on their sun trap terrace, with a glass of good wine and the perfect views across the Fleet.

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